Transcript of "Forsaken"

2.
• There could not be a worse feeling
than being all alone in this world.
Forsaken

3.
• There could not be a worse feeling
than being all alone in this world.
God created man as a social being.
•
Forsaken

4.
• There could not be a worse feeling
than being all alone in this world.
God created man as a social being.
•
“It is not good that the man should be
•
alone; I will make a helper fit for him” (Gn
2:18, ESV).
Forsaken

5.
• There could not be a worse feeling
than being all alone in this world.
God created man as a social being.
•
“It is not good that the man should be
•
alone; I will make a helper fit for him” (Gn
2:18, ESV).
Man’s social need is surely one reason God
•
created the church.
Forsaken

6.
• There could not be a worse feeling
than being all alone in this world.
God created man as a social being.
•
“It is not good that the man should be
•
alone; I will make a helper fit for him” (Gn
2:18, ESV).
Man’s social need is surely one reason God
•
created the church: “Day by day, attending
the temple together and breaking bread in
their homes, they received their food with
glad and generous hearts” (Acts 2:46, ESV).
Forsaken

7.
• This morning’s text is about being
forsaken, all alone in this world.
Forsaken

8.
• This morning’s text is about being
forsaken, all alone in this world.
• We see the Israelites:
FORSAKING THE LORD.
•
FORSAKEN BY THE LORD.
•
Forsaken

10.
• “And all that generation also were gathered to
their fathers. And there arose another
generation after them who did not know the
LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the
sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And
they abandoned the LORD, the God of their
fathers, who had brought them out of the land
of Egypt. They went after other gods, from
among the gods of the peoples who were
around them, and bowed down to them. And
they provoked the LORD to anger” (vv 10-13,
ESV).
Forsaken

12.
• The Hebrew for “know” – as fits this
context – refers to an intimate
relationship.
Forsaken

13.
• “There has not arisen a prophet since
in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD
knew face to face” (Deut 34:10, ESV).
Forsaken

14.
• “There has not arisen a prophet since
in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD
knew face to face” (Deut 34:10, ESV).
There was an intimate relationship
between the Lord & Moses.
Forsaken

15.
• “There has not arisen a prophet since
in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD
knew face to face” (Deut 34:10, ESV).
There was an intimate relationship
between the Lord & Moses.
• The term is also used of the sexual
relationship.
Forsaken

16.
• “There has not arisen a prophet since
in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD
knew face to face” (Deut 34:10, ESV).
There was an intimate relationship
between the Lord & Moses.
• The term is also used of the sexual
relationship.
“Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she
•
conceived and bore Cain” Gn 4:1, ESV).
Forsaken

17.
• “There has not arisen a prophet since
in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD
knew face to face” (Deut 34:10, ESV).
There was an intimate relationship
between the Lord & Moses.
• The term is also used of the sexual
relationship.
“Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she
•
conceived and bore Cain” Gn 4:1, ESV).
The sexual relationship is a very intimate
•
relationship.
Forsaken

18.
• Thus, at the time of the judges, the
Israelites did not have an intimate
relationship with God.
Forsaken

19.
• Thus, at the time of the judges, the
Israelites did not have an intimate
relationship with God.
This means more than that they simply
•
didn’t know who God was.
Forsaken

20.
• Thus, at the time of the judges, the
Israelites did not have an intimate
relationship with God.
This means more than that they simply
•
didn’t know who God was.
The Israelites were not walking with God.
•
Forsaken

21.
• Thus, at the time of the judges, the
Israelites did not have an intimate
relationship with God.
This means more than that they simply
•
didn’t know who God was.
The Israelites were not walking with God.
•
• We need to walk with God.
Forsaken

22.
• Thus, at the time of the judges, the
Israelites did not have an intimate
relationship with God.
This means more than that they simply
•
didn’t know who God was.
The Israelites were not walking with God.
•
• We need to walk with God.
• “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in
his generation. Noah walked with God”
(Gn 6:9, ESV).
Forsaken

23.
• Thus, at the time of the judges, the
Israelites did not have an intimate
relationship with God.
This means more than that they simply
•
didn’t know who God was.
The Israelites were not walking with God.
•
• We need to walk with God.
• “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in
his generation. Noah walked with God”
(Gn 6:9, ESV).
• Levi “walked with me in peace and
uprightness, and he turned many away
from iniquity” (Mal 2:6, ESV).
Forsaken

29.
• The previous generation had been
commanded to teach their children.
Forsaken

30.
• The previous generation had been
commanded to teach their children.
“And these words that I command you
•
today shall be on your heart. You shall
teach them diligently to your children,
and shall talk of them when you sit in your
house, and when you walk by the way,
and when you lie down, and when you
rise” (Deut 6:6-7, ESV).
Forsaken

31.
• The previous generation had been
commanded to teach their children.
Deut 6:6-7.
•
“When your children ask in time to come,
•
‘What do those stones mean to
you?’ then you shall tell them that the
waters of the Jordan were cut off before
the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When
it passed over the Jordan, the waters of
the Jordan were cut off. So these stones
shall be to the people of Israel a memorial
forever” (Josh 4:6-7, ESV).
Forsaken

32.
• It certainly seems that the previous
generation had not fulfilled this
obligation.
Forsaken

33.
• It certainly seems that the previous
generation had not fulfilled this
obligation.
Therefore, their children knew nothing of
•
God’s mighty acts.
Forsaken

34.
• It certainly seems that the previous
generation had not fulfilled this
obligation.
Therefore, their children knew nothing of
•
God’s mighty acts.
We have an awesome responsibility to
•
teach our children.
Forsaken

35.
• It certainly seems that the previous
generation had not fulfilled this
obligation.
Therefore, their children knew nothing of
•
God’s mighty acts.
We have an awesome responsibility to
•
teach our children.
“Train up a child in the way he should go;
•
even when he is old he will not depart from
it” (Prov 22:6, ESV).
Forsaken

36.
• It certainly seems that the previous
generation had not fulfilled this
obligation.
Therefore, their children knew nothing of
•
God’s mighty acts.
We have an awesome responsibility to
•
teach our children.
“Train up a child in the way he should go;
•
even when he is old he will not depart from
it” (Prov 22:6, ESV).
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to
•
anger, but bring them up in the discipline
and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4, ESV).
Forsaken

38.
• The people followed & worshiped the
various gods of their neighbors.
Forsaken

39.
• The people followed & worshiped the
various gods of their neighbors.
• The Israelites had been commanded
to annihilate the Canaanites.
Forsaken

40.
• “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that
you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away
many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites,
the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites,
and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and
mightier than yourselves, and when the Lord your God
gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you
must devote them to complete destruction.You shall
make no covenant with them and show no mercy to
them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your
daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your
sons, for they would turn away your sons from following
me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord
would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you
quickly. But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break
down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop
down their Asherim and burn their carved images with
fire” (Deut 7:1-5, ESV).
Forsaken

41.
• The people followed & worshiped the
various gods of their neighbors.
• The Israelites had been commanded
to annihilate the Canaanites (Deut 7:1-
5).
• But, the Israelites did not do that!
Forsaken

42.
• The people followed & worshiped the
various gods of their neighbors.
• The Israelites had been commanded
to annihilate the Canaanites (Deut 7:1-
5).
• But, the Israelites did not do that!
“Now when the people of Israel grew
strong, they put the Canaanites to
forced labor, but did not utterly drive
them out” (Josh 17:13).
Forsaken

44.
• The majority of the people in this
world are going to hell.
Forsaken

45.
• The majority of the people in this
world are going to hell.
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is
•
wide and the way is easy that leads to
destruction, and those who enter by it are
many. For the gate is narrow and the way
is hard that leads to life, and those who
find it are few” (Mt 7:13-14, ESV).
Forsaken

46.
• The majority of the people in this
world are going to hell.
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is
•
wide and the way is easy that leads to
destruction, and those who enter by it are
many. For the gate is narrow and the way
is hard that leads to life, and those who
find it are few” (Mt 7:13-14, ESV).
If we do what the majority do, we’ll find
•
ourselves headed straight to destruction.
Forsaken

48.
• We are called to be different from
those around us.
“If you were of the world, the world would
•
love you as its own; but because you are
not of the world, but I chose you out of
the world, therefore the world hates you”
(Jn 15:19, ESV).
Forsaken

49.
• We are called to be different from
those around us.
“If you were of the world, the world would
•
love you as its own; but because you are
not of the world, but I chose you out of
the world, therefore the world hates you”
(Jn 15:19, ESV).
“Therefore go out from their midst, and
•
be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing; then I will
welcome you” (2 Cor 6:17, ESV).
Forsaken

54.
• “So the anger of the Lord was kindled
against Israel, and he gave them over
to plunderers, who plundered them.
And he sold them into the hand of
their surrounding enemies, so that
they could no longer withstand their
enemies. Whenever they marched
out, the hand of the Lord was against
them for harm, as the Lord had
warned, and as the Lord had sworn to
them. And they were in terrible
distress” (vv 14-15, ESV).
Forsaken

56.
• God became angry with the Israelites.
• God does become angry.
Forsaken

57.
• God became angry with the Israelites.
• God does become angry.
“The wrath of God is revealed from heaven
•
against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who by their
unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Rm
1:18, ESV).
Forsaken

58.
• God became angry with the Israelites.
• God does become angry.
“The wrath of God is revealed from heaven
•
against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who by their
unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Rm
1:18, ESV).
“Let no one deceive you with empty words,
•
for because of these things the wrath of
God comes upon the sons of disobedience”
(Eph 5:6, ESV).
Forsaken

59.
• A T Pierson: “God’s anger was seen to
be not a passion, but a principle—the
eternal hatred of wrong, which
corresponds to the eternal love of
right, and which is only another aspect
of love. The magnetic needle swings
on its delicate axis; it attracts at one
end; it repels at the other.”
Forsaken

60.
• J. I. Packer: “The entire New
Testament is overshadowed by the
certainty of a coming day of universal
judgment, and by the problem thence
arising; how may we sinners get right
with God while there is yet time?”
Forsaken

62.
• Raiders came against the Israelites &
plundered them.
The worship of Baal was supposed to
•
protect one’s crops.
Forsaken

63.
• Raiders came against the Israelites &
plundered them.
The worship of Baal was supposed to
•
protect one’s crops.
God is likely purposefully sending
•
plunderers against the crops to make a
point that Baal is no protection at all.
Forsaken

64.
• Whenever the Israelites went out
against their enemies, they could not
stand against their enemies, v 15.
Forsaken

65.
• Whenever the Israelites went out
against their enemies, they could not
stand against their enemies, v 15.
Victory over their enemies established
•
God’s care for the Israelites.
Forsaken

66.
• Whenever the Israelites went out
against their enemies, they could not
stand against their enemies, v 15.
Victory over their enemies established
•
God’s care for the Israelites.
“And Joshua said, ‘Here is how you shall
•
know that the living God is among you and
that he will without fail drive out from
before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the
Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the
Amorites, and the Jebusites’” (Josh 3:10,
ESV).
Forsaken

67.
• “At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the
day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to
the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of
Israel, ‘Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in
the Valley of Aijalon.’ And the sun stood still,
and the moon stopped, until the nation took
vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written
in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the
midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for
about a whole day. There has been no day like it
before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice
of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel” (Josh
10:12-14, ESV).
Forsaken

68.
• Because of the people’s sinfulness,
God withdrew his help.
Forsaken

69.
• “The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Get up! Why have you
fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have
transgressed my covenant that I commanded
them; they have taken some of the devoted
things; they have stolen and lied and put them
among their own belongings. Therefore the
people of Israel cannot stand before their
enemies. They turn their backs before their
enemies, because they have become devoted
for destruction. I will be with you no more,
unless you destroy the devoted things from
among you’” (Josh 7:10-12, ESV).
Forsaken

70.
• “The Lord will cause you to be
defeated before your enemies. You
shall go out one way against them and
flee seven ways before them. And you
shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of
the earth” (Deut 28:25, ESV).
Forsaken

73.
• God promises retribution upon the
disobedient.
“There will be tribulation and distress for
•
every human being who does evil, the Jew
first and also the Greek” (Rm 2:9, ESV).
Forsaken

74.
• God promises retribution upon the
disobedient.
“There will be tribulation and distress for
•
every human being who does evil, the Jew
first and also the Greek” (Rm 2:9, ESV).
The wicked “will suffer the punishment of
•
eternal destruction, away from the
presence of the Lord and from the glory
of his might” (2 Thess 1:9, ESV).
Forsaken

75.
• If we are not faithful to God, he will
withdraw his blessings.
Forsaken

76.
• If we are not faithful to God, he will
withdraw his blessings.
God promises blessings to the obedient.
•
Forsaken

77.
• If we are not faithful to God, he will
withdraw his blessings.
God promises blessings to the obedient.
•
“The one who looks into the perfect law,
•
the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no
hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he
will be blessed in his doing” (Js 1:25, ESV).
Forsaken

78.
• If we are not faithful to God, he will
withdraw his blessings.
God promises blessings to the obedient.
•
“The one who looks into the perfect law,
•
the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no
hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he
will be blessed in his doing” (Js 1:25, ESV).
“Beloved, if our heart does not condemn
•
us, we have confidence before God; and
whatever we ask we receive from him,
because we keep his commandments and
do what pleases him” (1 Jn 3:21-22, ESV).
Forsaken

80.
• The conclusion of this narrative is
quite interesting.
The Israelites were in great distress.
•
Forsaken

81.
• The conclusion of this narrative is
quite interesting.
The Israelites were in great distress.
•
“ Then the Lord raised up judges, who
•
saved them out of the hand of those who
plundered them” (v 16, ESV).
Forsaken

82.
• The conclusion of this narrative is
quite interesting.
The Israelites were in great distress.
•
“ Then the Lord raised up judges, who
•
saved them out of the hand of those who
plundered them” (v 16, ESV).
• God still loved his people & when they
returned to him, he returned to them.
Forsaken